Over the past 30 years, there has been a significant shift in how board games are designed and played. Many classic board games, like Snakes and Ladders, relied on simple roll-and-move mechanisms. However, contemporary games incorporate a variety of mechanics that help mitigate randomness and encourage skill-based play.
A key element of hobby games is the option for player choice. Many card games allow players to select from a pool of cards to create their starting hand. In dice games, specific spaces are printed on the board. In well-designed games, players can showcase their tactical skills
In this overview, I will discuss a few games that exemplify these concepts, starting with The Public Display.
The Public Display
One major tool for reducing luck is what I call “The Public Display,” which is a shared, visible pool of resources or cards that all players can draw from. This mechanic appears in many modern games and allows for more informed decision-making.
The Public Display is used across various types of board games, from factories in the abstract game Azul to dice bridges in The White Castle and polynomial tiles in Patchwork. One of the most common applications of this concept is in card games.
Many modern card games boast over 200 unique cards, so how can we help players find the cards they need? In Wingspan, the bird tray displays three face-up cards that all players can draw from, allowing players to plan based on known options rather than relying solely on the luck of the draw. Ark Nova and Everdell use similar systems where you have the potential to play cards directly from the game board rather than your hand. Lost Cities features a discard display where you don’t want to give your opponent just the card they need. Finally, Jaipur works based on choosing only from face-up cards to collect sets.
They provide a player-wide pool of cards that is refreshed at various points during the game. While it may seem like only a small percentage of cards are visible, this approach enables players to make more informed decisions. It increases player interaction by creating opportunities to block opponents. In many cases, the display system is refreshed after each player’s turn, meaning better options might emerge.
When you think about the way games differ in terms of gameplay, a lot of concepts cross over, as I have already highlighted. Another concept I like to think about is Location Placement.
Location Placement
When you are out for a walk and come to a fork in the path, you are faced with a decision about which way to go. This concept is familiar to board game enthusiasts. The worker placement genre is likely the most well-known in this category, but other games like Castle of Burgundy also utilise this mechanic, where you place dice instead of meeples to gain resources. Catan introduces this aspect at the beginning of each game, as players aim to surround their settlers with a variety of resources.
The most effective games implement this by enforcing a rule where once a player occupies a location, others cannot go there. In games designed for larger player counts, some locations may allow multiple players, but this is primarily to maintain balance and fairness as the number of participants increases.
Agricola is one of the most unforgiving examples of this mechanic: regardless of player count, only one person can claim a given resource each turn. In a game where actions are limited (you begin with just two workers, meaning only two placements per round), making the most of each move is crucial. While turn order might seem like a major advantage in such games, many titles, including Agricola, balance this by offering a variety of strong early options, often paired with other mechanisms like playing cards that create multiple viable strategies.
Some abstract games also make excellent use of this mechanic. These games often feature a public display from which players draft tiles, then place them on their boards to earn points. Cascadia executes this particularly well: on your turn, you choose a pair consisting of a terrain tile and an animal token from a shared display, placing them strategically to fulfil endgame objectives. Akropolis follows a similar principle, requiring players to balance the different placement criteria of their buildings to get the best overall score.
So far, we have covered a lot of ground, but there are two more concepts I want to unpack. Let’s start with the third of risk and reward.
Risk and Reward
No board game is complete without a touch of hopeful optimism. Whether it’s drawing the exact train colour you need in Ticket to Ride or rolling just the right number in the push-your-luck game Deep Sea Adventure, moments when luck rewards your strategy are some of the most joyful in gaming.
Take the racing game Heat: Pedal to the Metal. Will you play it safe through those tricky corners, saving your speed for the final lap? Or will you surge ahead early, risking your engine by burning precious heat? Like many great games, Heat rewards the perfect balance of restraint and risk. Playing too cautiously will leave you behind, while pushing too hard by spending 5 heat on the first corner is likely to backfire. The inclusion of stress cards, which reveal random cards from your deck, adds another layer of tension. Skilled players can track their decks, knowing just when the odds are in their favour to gamble.
The ability to take risks and see them pay off is a crucial concept in many board games. The best games thrive on pre-planning, encouraging players to think through their moves a few turns in advance.
Collections, Tags and Engines
The final idea I want to discuss is collections, tags, and engines. This is particularly prominent in Euro-style games, but even simpler games incorporate these concepts.
Many games use the concept of building over time, becoming more efficient and powerful. These systems often create a rewarding experience for players because they link all players’ actions into one overarching strategy. Whether you’re collecting matching icons (tags), building card combos, or changing resources into points, each turn becomes more strategic as your past choices accumulate into long-term momentum.
It isn’t even just long Euros that use these ideas. Take, for instance, Sushi Go, where you collect sets of specific sushi to combo into points. Collecting specific groups of items to gain points is a straightforward yet effective way to reduce randomness. Many games also employ collections for endgame points, like Railroad Ink, where players earn points for the longest connected rails or roads. This provides a clear target for players and leverages random dice rolls to their advantage.
There are more obvious examples in Terraforming Mars, Race for the Galaxy, and Splendor. In Splendor, each gem card reduces the cost of future cards, meaning your past choices directly influence your available options. By allowing players to shape how their actions evolve, these systems minimise the impact of luck. A bad draw early in the game can often be overcome with strong engine planning, turning setbacks into long-term gains.
The well-engineered nature of board games is what ignited my passion for the hobby. As the game unfolds and you make decisions, you can always analyse why a different move might have been the better option. This is what brings me back to games time and time again. Making the most of the cards, dice, or even endgame objectives can be the difference between defeat and victory. While luck adds suspense and surprise, it is ultimately the choices of the players that shape the outcome.
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